


A Boy And His Dog.

by Haldane



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012), Tumblr - Fandom
Genre: Dogs, Gen, Humor, Tumblr Memes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-30
Updated: 2013-05-30
Packaged: 2017-12-13 10:31:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/823270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haldane/pseuds/Haldane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve adopts a stray.  The other Avengers are less than supportive.</p><p>(See notes on Tumblr meme at end)</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Boy And His Dog.

The villainous lair of the week was an abandoned warehouse in an industrial suburb on the outskirts of New York. The work was done and the team was down to the mopping up stage when Steve heard a faint whining coming from an alley just off the perimeter.

He peered carefully into the shadows. There was a huddled shape on the ground, which resolved into a lanky dog rather than an injured enemy. The dog lifted his head and thumped his tail on the ground hopefully as Steve approached.

“Hey, boy, what’s up?” he asked gently, looking closer. The dog was thin and dirty – obviously a stray – but didn’t seem to be injured. It bounced to its feet and attempted to climb Steve’s body, whining as its paws slipped down the Captain America uniform. Initial failure didn’t discourage its efforts, until the dog lost its balance and knocked over a stack of empty boxes.

“Okay, you’d better come with me. Let’s at least get you a bath and a meal.”

Slender build, with long legs and longer hair ending in a feathery tail, Steve guessed at some Irish Setter or maybe borzoi in its ancestry, or some other decorative type bred for looks rather than brains for a few generations too many. It lolloped along at his side, back to the others assembling by the quinjet.

“Oh no. You’re not bringing that thing into my tower.” Tony stared in horror as the dog sniffed at something unspeakable on the ground, and then started rubbing his face in it.

“He’ll just take a little training, that’s all,” Steve suggested hopefully. 

“Nope. No dogs.”

Steve grimaced, then brightened. “You did say we could decorate our floors however we wanted."

"Yes..." Tony admitted warily.

Steve smiled. "I’m decorating mine with _him_.”

They all turned to look at the stray, who was busy peeing on the quinjet’s loading ramp.

“Oh gods,” Clint groaned. “You’ve adopted Moon Moon.”

Tony howled with laughter, Bruce smiled, while Steve looked puzzled and Thor frowned. “You know this animal?”

“I was going to name him Skipper,” Steve said.

“Moon Moon isn’t his name, it’s more of a category,” Tony said, which did little to clarify the situation.

=======

Bruce did his best to clear the matter up on the way home. “So, Steve, you know about werewolf stories, right?”

“Yes.”

“So, in these stories, the wolves always have names of a certain type, like Night Shadow or Black Fang or, I don’t know, Moonrise. Werewolves aren’t named things like Sandra or Jeffrey. A while ago a joke went around where you picked two words at random from a pair of lists to make up ‘your werewolf name’.”

“Your werewolf name?” asked Steve.

“If you were a werewolf, the two words were the name you would have. So they threw in all the usual terms, like Black and Night and Death, but accidentally included ‘moon’ in both sections. So somebody inevitably wound up with ‘Moon Moon’.

“They decided it sounded like a totally stupid, klutzy name. The sort of werewolf other wolves would be embarrassed about.”

“The sort who falls over his own feet and pees on quinjets?” Steve asked shrewdly.

“Exactly. Then more people attached a few funny pictures, and few more jokes, and it made the rounds on the internet causing a lot of laughs.”

“So, calling Skipper ‘Moon Moon’ is sort of a joking nickname,” Steve said. “I suppose at least they can’t hurt his feelings.”

“Yes,” Bruce agreed. “Probably best to keep him out of the way a bit until people get used to the idea of having a dog about.”

“Yeah, I was planning to keep him on my floor. He can’t cause any trouble there.”

=======

The concept was good, but the idea failed in execution.

Skipper had an incredible ability to get loose in the Avengers Tower. And he didn’t just beg at the dining table or get paw prints on the carpets.

Skipper got his head stuck in the refrigerator.

Skipper knocked over a porcelain vase filled with river stones and dried flowers.

Skipper ate a pair of $1750 Gucci loafers.

Skipper peed in the elevator.

Skipper _shed_.

=========

Steve walked quickly through the public floor of the tower, trying not to look like he was looking for Skipper. The dog had gotten loose from his floor again, and he was hoping to find him before anyone else did, or at least in time to minimize the damage.

Swinging around the corner into the lobby area, he found all the other Avengers greeting Coulson, who was just stepping off of the elevator trailed by a pair of junior agents carrying file boxes. He heard a cheerful bark from behind him, and cringed as Skipper dashed past to throw himself on the newcomers.

Coulson calmly veered to one side and avoided the rush. Skipper braced his front legs against the floor to brake, but couldn’t gain any traction on the polished granite and started to slide. His back legs overtook his front ones, sending him into a sideways slide like a NASCAR driver failing to hold a bend. 

He crashed into the male agent, sending him and his files down in a heap. The files spilled out of the floor with various bits and pieces, such as a phone and keys. Clint suddenly tensed and flicked out one hand.

“What are these?” Clint asked, looking at a strip of plastic with four grey dots stuck to it. 

“Hmm. Very small and plain coloured, adhesive on one side, and definitely with some wiring inside. My first guess would be bugs.” Tony added, “But they’re not Starktech. Yours?”

Coulson shook his head and started to speak. But the agent, taking advantage of the Avengers’ distraction, bolted back towards the service stairs. Each of the Avengers hesitated for a second, their fields of fire blocked by each other.

Except for Skipper, who leapt enthusiastically into this new game, catching up in three huge bounds. But instead of running alongside, he tried to run _between_ the man’s legs, causing a second crash to the floor. That was long enough for Natasha and Coulson to pin and secure the rogue agent.

Steve was torn between pride in his dog’s achievement and embarrassment at his clumsiness. He glanced sideways at Clint and Tony. “Good dog,” he said. “Good dog, Moon Moon.”

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a Tumblr Meme - the 'Moon Moon' entry from "What is your Werewolf Name".
> 
> Check it out [here](http://tumblr.tastefullyoffensive.com/post/48961118759/kitchkishangout-via#.UacuMGQpblI) !
> 
> NEW: Tell me your werewolf name in the comments and get a cameo in the sequel!
> 
> Follow my tumblr at [Haldane-ify](http://haldane-ify.tumblr.com/) !


End file.
